Various instruments for cleaning the mouth are well kmown. Toothbrushes are almost universally used, typically with a toothpaste or gel to clean the teeth and that part of the gums immediately adjacent to the teeth.
A satisfactory toothbrush requires a pack of bristles imbedded in a handle and is expensive to make. Known low-cost simplifications include one-piece toothbrushes in which the "bristles" are provided instead as multiple spikes on a moulded plastic head. This is hard and unpleasant to use. Furthermore for people with sensitive mouths, people with mouth ulcers or other lesions or people with missing teeth, even good quality toothbrushes can be unpleasant or painful.
Proposals have been made for non-brush mouth cleaners. For example GB-A-2129675 describes a disposable towelette sheath wrapped around a rubber head on a handle. However the prior proposals have not become popular because they are fussy to use and/or expensive to make. It is hard to reconcile the public's high demands for oral acceptability with a low manufacturing cost.